"I Just Don't Feel Like It"

Before you say, "I just don't feel like it," I want you to ask, "What would happen to me if I don't do it?"

"I just don't feel like it" always comes with consequences. But here's the thing about consequences: they almost never happen right away. Think about the person who has been driving for years with a suspended license. That person has gotten away with this action for so long that he had forgotten that he didn't have a valid license anymore.

Then one day, he finally gets pulled over and remembers that he doesn't have a license! The cop discovers that his license was suspended. Now, the man can't drive back home as the cop has to have his car tolled. In addition, this man can't get to work or do other things that he had planned out. His life pretty much changed overnight.

In the same way, consequences would be slow to catch up with you. Today, you've gotten away with it. Tomorrow, you've gotten away with it. Six months from now, you've gotten away with it. Six years from now, you've gotten away with it. But then on the seventh year when you've least expected it, the consequences showed up and dramatically changed your life.

My father had bladder cancer a few years ago. He was about 70 when he had gotten it. Now, I can't pinpoint the cause, but he was a long-time smoker, even though he worked out, ate healthy, and took his vitamins. He tried quitting his habit, but he always found himself smoking again. Well, he has gotten away with smoking for so long that he probably didn't think much of it anymore.

Then he starts peeing out blood. He gets checked and discovered that he had cancer. The disease spread so much that it took over his entire bladder. Unfortunately, he had his bladder removed. That in itself would change your life. Now, you're thinking, "How could smoking cause bladder cancer??" Well, when toxins go into your lungs, they would go directly to your blood stream, and your blood goes everywhere in your body. Plus, all those toxins would find themselves in your urine. All that toxic exposure could definitely cause cancer.

The consequences were definitely slow in showing up in my father, but when they showed up, they were quick in changing his life forever.

If you are doing something (or neglecting something) right now, then consider the future. You may get off free for now, but one day in the future when you least expect it, the consequences would come at you in full force.

• If you are thinking about starting a project, then do it.
• If you are thinking about losing weight, then do it.
• If you are thinking about starting a business, then do it.
• If you are thinking about learning a skill, then do it.
• If you are thinking about going back to school, then do it.
• If you are thinking about changing your attitude, then do it.

Results and consequences are the same: they are both slow in showing up. Few times, both are quick. For most of the time, they are slow. This is why you can't get discouraged when you don't see results right away, and you can't get complacent if you don't get consequences right away.

Living in the south has taught me to never be fooled by nice weather. One time, I was over at the church doing a project when my wife called asking me to come home. It was a nice day outside, but she said there was an unusual storm coming in. I was angry that she interrupted me, thinking that she was over-reacting. I came home just to make her feel better. But then later, that storm did come in and it produced several tornadoes, one of which had hit our neighborhood!

That was back in April of 2011. Many of you remember that year being the year of tornadoes in our country. The year 2011 has made history as being the year that produced many tornadoes in such a short period. North Carolina, Alabama, and Missouri were hit the hardest.

While everything is going good, don't think you could just slack and be neglectful. This should be the time to start those projects or to make corrections in your life. The time of peace is the time of preparation, not the time of relaxation. 

When you say, "I don't feel like it," you would eventually pay for those words. You don't want to be caught in the storm unprepared. You don't want to hear any dreaded words coming from a doctor, or from your boss, or from your spouse, or from your kids. You don't want to live your life with the I-don't-feel-like-it attitude, because when consequences hit, they hit hard. But what's perhaps worse than the consequences is the feeling you get afterwards: the feeling that you could have prevented it.